19 August 2008

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Where to eat ice cream in London

Summer = ice cream

Many childhood memories are about eating ice cream and the enticement of an ice cream can encourage the weariest, stroppiest of children to keep going and be good. A wonderful treat is to go to an ice cream parlour and choose a huge sundae in a glass so tall you have to kneel up to eat it!

A nations favourite!

We Brits. enjoy an average of 8.1 litres of ice cream per year but this amount of scooping is dwarfed by the American average of 21 litres. We are also developing our taste for luxury ice cream. There are over 1,000 ice cream producers in the UK producing tens of thousands of flavours however vanilla remains the favourite being chosen nine times out of ten.

The history of ice cream

The first real evidence of the existence of a form of "ice cream" originates from China's Tang period (A.D 618-97). King Tang of Shang had among his staff 94 ice men who helped to make a dish of buffalo milk, flour and camphor. Ice Cream was invented in China in about 200B.C. when a soft milk and rice mixture was further solidified by packing it in snow In Europe, water ices first appeared in the early 1660s in Paris, Naples, Florence and Spain. The first documented evidence of ice cream in England was published in 1672 during the reign of Charles II. At the Feast of St George in 1671 the only table to be served ices was the King's, with one plate of white strawberries and one plate of ice cream. Roman emperors are alleged to have sent slaves to mountain tops to bring back fresh snow which was then flavoured and served as an early form of ice cream. Ice Cream sundaes were created when it became illegal to sell ice cream with flavoured soda on a Sunday in the American town of Evanston during the late 19th century. Some traders got round it by serving it with syrup instead, calling it an "Ice Cream Sunday" and eventually replacing the final "y" with an "e" to avoid upsetting religious leaders. The ice cream cone is the most environmentally friendly form of packaging. A Syrian from Damascus, Ernest E Hamwi is credited with its invention. Apparently, during the 1904 St Louis World's Fair, his waffle booth was next to an ice cream vendor who ran short of dishes. Hamwi rolled a waffle to contain ice cream and the cone was born.

Home-made Rich Vanilla Ice Cream

Serves 4-6
2 vanilla pods
300ml whole mile
300ml double cream
6 large egg yolks
150g caster sugar

Split vanilla pods and scrape out seeds. Place pods in a saucepan and seeds in separate bowl. Pour milk and cream into saucepan with vanilla pods and bring just to boiling point. Remove from heat to infuse for 30 mins. Beat eggs and sugar until pale and creamy. Return cream mixture to heat and bring back to the boil. Pour hot cream mixture over egg mixture and pour back into saucepan. Cook over low heat stirring constantly until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and cool completely. Place into shallow box and freeze. When almost solid, beat the mixture and return to freezer. Repeat twice.
Enjoy!

A selection of the many ice cream parlours in London

Marine Ices
8 Haverstock Hill, London, NW3 2BL

Corelli Ice's
132 Battersea Park Road, London, SW11 4LY

Gelateria Danieli
16 Brewers Lane, Richmond TW9 1HH

Gelateria Valerie
Duke of York Square, Chelsea, SW3 4LY

Morelli's Gelato
Ground Floor, Harrods, 87-135 Brompton Rd Knightsbridge SW1X 7XL

Oddono's
14 Bute St South Kensington SW7 3EX
Noura Brasserie, 16 Hobart Place, SW1W 0HH

La Bottega Del Galato
127 Bayswater Road, London W2 4RH

SCOOP
Fine Italian Gelato LTD, 40 Shorts Gardens, London, WC2H 9AB

Tell us about your favourite place to eat ice cream email us at london@whatson4kids.com